Contactless pay…for your donkey ride
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Even the most traditional forms of transport can be given a new lease of life thanks to technology, with donkey rides now added to that list.
A troupe of donkeys that offer rides on Blackpool’s beach have been fitted with the new payment saddles, meaning parents can just put their card on the saddle to pay.
Owner of Real Donkeys Mark Ineson has been giving donkey rides on the beach for nearly 20 years and hopes to attract more riders, particularly those that do not have cash on them.
“Over the years I’ve had to turn hundreds of kids away because mums and dads don’t have the cash on them to pay for a ride on Dillon – and the beach is often the last place you want to be carrying lots of change. So I approached Barclaycard to see whether they could help solve the problem.
“The saddle they’ve come up with means hundreds more people will be able to experience one of the Great British seaside traditions and have a donkey ride along the sands. It also shows that, regardless of how traditional your business might be, there are always new things to trial that can give it a much-needed boost.”
Barclaycard’s contactless cards racked up more than GBP150 million in payment for the first time in June this year and expects GBP2bn to be spent through the cards through this year.
Tami Hargraves, head of contactless at Barclaycard said: “If we can bring contactless technology to millions of travellers across major UK cities on buses, tubes and trams, we thought that one of the world’s most ancient forms of human transport could do with a similar make-over. That’s why we leapt at the chance to help Dillon and his owner Mark get more from his business and bring smiles to more kids this bank holiday. Now all we have to do is hope the British summer plays along.
“Assuming that Dillon’s pioneering approach in going cashless is a success, we could see the roll out of more Contactless Donkeys everywhere next summer. In fact, we’re constantly building on the market leading innovations we have delivered, and we have exciting projects in the pipeline which are set to shape the future of payments.”
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